Over the past thirty years shopping malls have continuously grown in size and complexity. Often the malls are surrounded by a bewildering array of parking options spread over a large geographical area. In many instances, mall parking is available in multilevel garages. One seeking to find a vehicle in these garages must remember the particular garage, level, row and space where he or she parked the vehicle. Similarly, in open parking lots surrounding a mall the search for a vehicle can be equally, if not more, bewildering. This is especially true if a vehicle is parked in the daylight and sought to be retrieved after nightfall. The change in lighting causes ones perspective to change making it difficult to locate a vehicle. Similarly, if a vehicle is parked when a lot is relatively empty and then retrieved after the lot fills up, the owner's impression of the vehicle's location can also change.
Compounding these difficulties are the issues of safety and weather. A recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that there were more than four hundred thousand violent crimes in parking lots in 1985 alone. A single mall in New Jersey reported an annual average of 2 rapes, 16 robberies, 78 assaults, 173 burglaries, 670 larcenies and 202 motor vehicle thefts. The fear of such crimes has led to increased police patrols of parking lots, television surveillance, stakeouts and the like. All of these measures are, however, palliative, not preventive. In addition they are expensive.
In many climates, both in the north and south, the weather can deter shopping. The prospect of walking several hundred yards from vehicle to store in biting cold weather to do Christmas shopping is a serious deterrent to many shoppers. Conversely, extreme heat and humidity can deter shoppers at any time of the year, especially the elderly. The prospect of returning to a vehicle that has been baked by 90.degree. sun for several hours is similarly not very pleasant.
Most of the abovementioned negatives surrounding mall parking lots and parking garages apply equally well to other areas such as shopping centers, airports, sports complexes and the like.
One solution to such problems might be the provision of traditional valet parking for customers. Traditional valet parking operations, however, have several drawbacks. First, such operations are typically operated out of a single location. Thus, if a shopper were to drop off a vehicle at that location in a mall and to proceed to the opposite end of the mall he or she would have to backtrack to the drop-off location to retrieve the vehicle. Failing this, the shopper more frequently chooses not to venture far from the parking entrance location, thus discouraging cross-mall shopping.
A second drawback of the typical valet parking system is the method used to record and verify vehicle ownership. In the traditional valet system a two part printed ticket is used with one half given to the vehicle owner and the other haphazardly placed on the vehicle dashboard or under the windshield wiper. This system often results in loss of the owner's ticket half when misplaced in pocket or purse, especially during shopping when the owner is constantly reaching in pocket or purse for credit cards, money, etc. Theft of the owner's ticket half is also an ever present danger. Conversely, the other half of the ticket is easily lost if, for example, placed under the windshield wiper of the vehicle. Or the readily visible number on the ticket can be read by someone who can use that number to illegally claim ownership by feigning the loss of his or her ticket half. In addition, the vehicles, once parked by the valet service, are generally unattended and thus subject to theft or vandalism.